Pocket protector or guard



(No Model.)

J. N. HAMMER. POGKET PROTECTOR 0R GUARD.

No. 579,749.. Patented Mar. 30-, 1897.

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' UNITED STATES PATENT Fries.

JOHN N. HAMMER, OF SOUTH CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

POCKET PROTECTOR OR GUARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 579,749, dated March 30, 1897. Application filed August 14,1'896r $erial No. 602,745. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN N. HAMMER, of South Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Pocket Protectors or Guards, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in pocket protectors or guards, the object being to provide a device which will,when attached in position, prevent the unintentional removal of any articles within the pocket, even if the same should be turned bottom side up.

A further object is to provid e a device which effectively prevents the pocket from being picked, the device being so located that to remove anything from the pocket would attract the wearers attention thereto.

Apractical embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a transverse vertical section through the pocket showing the pocket protector or guard secured in its position therein near the mouth of the pocket, and a watch being shown within the pocket. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the position of the parts when the pocket is turned bottom side up. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing coins within the pocket. Fig. lis a view similar to Fig. 2, showing the manner in which the pocket-protector retains the coins within the pocket when the pocket is bottom side up. Fig. 5 is a front view of the protector or guard. Fig. 6 is a transverse section through the protector on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5, and Fig. '7 is a face view of the attaching-strip which is used in securing the protector within the pocket.

The inner wall of the pocket is denoted by A, and the outer wall by B, which outer wall is secured along its sides and bottom, as is usual, to the inner wall A. The protector or guard is denoted as a whole by O, and it may be made of rubber or any other suitable flexible material. The protector or guard O is preferably of about the same length as the width of the mouth of the pocket and is concavo-oonvex in cross-section, as clearly shown in Fig. 6. Strengthening-ribs c (in the present instance five are shown) extend across the concave side of the protector or guard from the bottom of the same to a point ashort distance below its top. These ribs serve to materially stiffen the said guard to prevent its buckling or bulging too far in the Wrong direction when weight is applied thereto, as when the pocket is turned bottom side up.

A plate D, of metal or some other suitable rigid material, is adapted to be placed along the front of the guard near its top for use in more securely fastening the guard within the pocket. This strip D is provided with a number of pairs of recesses d within its opposite edges for the reception of the threads which fasten the guard within the pocket.

Theprotector or guard is secured in the pocket in the following manner: The guard is placed within the pocket near the mouth thereof with its convex side projecting downwardly into the interior of the pocket. It is then secured to the inner wallAof the pocket by suitable fastening devices, such, for instance, as threads passing over the plate D, through the wall of the guard C, and through the cloth which forms the inner wall A of the pocket. When secured in this position, the lower outer edge of the protector presses against the outer wall B of the pocket and forms a closure for the same.

In the drawings I have shown in Fig. 2 the manner in which the protector or guard will prevent a watch from dropping out of the pocket when the pocket is turned bottom side upward, and in Fig. 4 I have shown how the said guard prevents coins from dropping out of the pocket under similar conditions. It will be seen that the pressure upon the guard by the contents of the pocket when the pocket is bottom side upward will tend to more securely hold the contents of the pocket within it because of the pressure of the contents upon the convex side of the guard, which will tend to straighten it. The ribs 0, heretofore mentioned, will prevent the guard from being pressed too far to form an effective shield. It will also be seen that because of the position of the guard within the pocket the contents of the pocket are effectively protected from the manipulations of pickpockets, as the depressing of the guard would tend to call the wearers attention to the fact that something was wrong.

While this guard is effective for use in connection with all kinds of pockets, it is more especially efficient when used in connection with waistcoat-pockets.

It is evident that the attaching-strip D may be entirely done away with and the top of the protector secured directly to the interior of the pocket, and it is also to be understood that the said protector, if so desired, might be secured to the outer wall of the pocket and have its lower edge pressing against the inner wall of the pocket, thereby reversing the position in which it is shown in the accompanying drawings.

Vhat I claim as my invention is 1. A pocket protector or guard of rubber or other suitable flexible material of conoavoconvex form in cross-section and provided with a plurality of strengthening-ribs extending across the concave side of the protector, and an attaching-strip of metal or other suitable stiit material extending along the front of the protector near its upper edge, substantially as set forth.

2. A protector or guard adapted to be secured within a pocket, the said protector being made of rubber or other suitable flexible material, the edges of the said guard being adapted to engage the walls of the pocket to normally close its mouth at all times, substantially as set forth.

3. A pocket protector or guard of rubber or other suitable flexible material of concavoconvex form in cross-section, the said protector being secured within the pocket with its convex Wall toward the interior of the same and having its edge normally engaging the walls of the pocket to close its mouth, substantially as set forth.

4:. In combination with the inner and outer walls of a pocket, of a protector or guard of concavo-convex form in cross-section secured at its upper edge to the interior wall of the pocket and having its lower edge normally at all times in engagement with the outer wall of the pocket to close the mouth of the same, substantially as set forth.

JOHN -N. HAMMER.

\Vitnesses:

JOHN E. ANDERSON, O. N. ECKDALL. 

